The Great Awakening

I just finished reading "The Great Awakening" by Jim Wallis. In his book he believes that we are on the verge of a Great Awakening leading to dramatic changes in the fight for social injustice. I found this book to be enlightening and challenging. I constantly found myself examining my personal and political beliefs. I really liked his statement that "faith should be both personal and public, and never just private." According to him the reason we should battle injustice here on earth is:

1. God hates injustice


2. The kingdom of God is a new order


3. The church is an alternative community


4. The kingdom of God transforms the world by addressing the specifics of injustice


5. The church is the conscience of the state, holding it accountable for upholding justice and restraining its violence

In his book he lists 7 commitments we should make:

1. Fighting Poverty


2. Environment


3. Equality and Diversity


4. Life and Dignity


5. Family and Community


6. Nonviolent Realism


7. Integrity and Accountability

After reading this book my view of the world has drastically changed. As Christians we are called to act out Jesus' love in our community and our world.

El Dorado County Bookmobile Closing

El Dorado County is closing down their bookmobile in efforts to bridge a $14.8 million budget shortfall. Here is a link to the Sacbee article.

A Day With A Few Of My Favorite People

Spent today with Tina, Christian, and Aubree. Christian had his last game of the basketball season in Meadow Vista. Unfortunately they lost, but the important thing was that they played hard.

Later I took Christian to his baseball practice. It was fun to see how much he has improved over the years. This year he was one of eight, 10 yr. olds to be drafted into the majors. He has a lot to learn but seems to be handling it well.

We just rapped up the evening watching the movie Ice Age. I always enjoy spending the day with my favorite people. It is what makes life worth living. God has really blessed me with.

Haircut

Received my first haircut from Sandy. I was a little nervous going into it because she is just learning how to cut hair. But she did a wonderful job and I plan on getting all my haircuts from her now on.

Read Acroos America

On Monday the NEA's Read Across America kicked off. This program is to get young people to start reading and it provides educators and parents many wonderful ideas on how to encourage their little ones to read. I had the honor of reading 2 books at my niece's school. Aubree is in first grade and all of her classmates got to come to school dressed in their pajamas. I had a wonderful time and was blessed to be a part of Aubree's life.

ARCO Arena

Christian and his basketball team got to play at ARCO Arena on Sunday. Later that evening we sat in the nosebleed seats and watched the Kings come from behind and beat the Miami Heat.

Sat. @ Bayside

We went to the 6:15 service at Bayside on Saturday night. Jeff led the worship and it was pretty awesome as usual. Pastor Ray finished up the series on marriage. He gave 6 ways to build unity and intimacy into a marriage

1. Appreciation & Affection
2. Spend Time Together
3. Good Communication
4. Commitment to Work Through Tough Times
5. Willingness to Pursue a Lifestyle of Integrity
6. Solid Spiritual Foundation

I think that if you really work on building a solid spiritual foundation and living your life for Jesus then the others will naturally fall into place.